Cigar cutter and lighter.



No. 840,980. PATENTED JAN. 8, 1907.

P. AIWIDMANN. 0mm CUTTER AND LIGHTER.

APPLICATION FILED APR.9. 1906.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1. 31

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ATTORNEYS UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CIGAR CUTTER AND LIGHTER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 8, 1907.

Application filed April 9, 1906. Serial No. 310,698.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FREDERICK ALBERT WIDMANN, a citizen of the UnitedStates, and a resident of Philadelphia, in the county of Philadelphiaand State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and Improved Cigar Cutterand Lighter, of which the following is a full, clear, and exactdescription.

The purpose of the invention is to provide a simple, durable, economic,and portable form of a combined cigar cutter and lighter wherein atension-controlled fountain for liquid fuel, such as gasolene, isprovided with a suitable wick for ignition and is pivotally mounted uponthe base for movement to and from the sparking device in an electriccircuit the batteries whereof are concealed in the base, so as 'toproduce a spark at the exposed portion of the wick as the fountain isswung outward to light a cigar, the electric circuit being closed andopened at the moment of the passage of the fountain to and from contactwith the said sparking device.

A further purpose of the invention is to provide a cigar-cutter which isautomatically brought into action by the movement of the fountain tolight the wick, the sparking device not acting upon the return movementof the fountain.

It is also a purpose of the invention to proends of the cigars in acleanly manner to a removable and concealed receptacle.

The invention consists in the novel construotion and combination of theseveral parts, as will be hereinafter fully set forth, and pointed outin the claims.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part ofthis, specification, in which similar characters ofreference indicatecorresponding parts in all the figures.

Figure 1 is a sectional front elevation of the device. Fig. 2 is a planview thereof. Fig. 3 is an enlar ed verticalsection through the swing orwic carrying portion of the fountain, the sparking device, and a portionof the base, the section being taken practically on the line 3 3 of Fig.2. Fig. 4 is an enlarged vertical section through the pivotal or innerend portion of the fountain, a sectional front elevation of theframe-bracket therefor, and a section through a portion of the base, thesection being taken practically on the line 4 4 of Fig. 2. Fig. 5 is anenlarged bottom perspective view of the knife of the cutter and itssupport; and Fig. 6 is an enlarged sec: tional view through the completecutter, a portion of the base, and the part of thefountain carrying theknife.

A represents the base, which is of box-like construction and is providedwith a cover A,

usually hinged thereto, and the said cover is held closed by a latch 10of any approved construction.

In the construction of the frame of the device two vertical brackets Band B are employed. The bracket B, which is at the right-hand end of thebase, is what I denominatean outer bracket and faces to the front, whilethe bracket B is located at the left-hand end of the base and isdesignated an inner bracket and faces in direction of the opposing end.The outer bracket B is preferably of greater height than the bracket Band consists of a vertical body member 11, a horizontal foot member 12,and a horizontal head member 13. The bracket B consists of a body member14, a horizontal foot member 15, and a horizontal head member 16. Thebracket B is held upon the said base by a screw 17, passed through thebase and through an opening in the foot member 12 of the bracket withoutcontact with its walls and through an insulating block or button 18,located upon the upper face of the said foot member of the bracket, asis shown best in Fig. 3, and this bolt 17 is provided at its bottom endwith a suitable nut 19. A binding-post 20 in the form of a bolt ispassed through the foot member 12 of the bracket B in close engagementtherewith and through the top A of the base, being provided at its lowerend with a locknut 21 and a binding-nut 22, whereby to hold the wirebetween the two nuts in engagement with the said post. 1

At the outer end of the head member 13 of the bracket B a longitudinalslot 23 is produced, and above this slot a fiat spring 24 is secured atits inner end, the outer end portion of the spring lying normallydirectly over the top of the slot 23, as shown in Fig. 3, and a sparkingdevice in the form of a finger 25 is pivoted at its upper portion in theaforesaid slot 28, the upper edge of the said sparking-finger 25being'flat and normally held out of engagement with the spring 24, as isshown by full lines in Fig. 3, since the sparking-finger extends somedistance below the head 13 i 43, and its upper edge 48 iscorrespondingly of the bracket and normally assumes a pendent positionwith a slight rearward inclination. In the further construction of thissparking-finger its rear edge is curved and its forward edge ispreferably made straight for a purpose to be hereinafter described.

An extinguishing-tube 28, having its lower edge 29 beveled from thefront downward and rearward, is supported beneath the horizontal head 13of the said bracket B, as is also best shown in Fig. 3. This tube 28 isclosed at the top except for the reception of a screw 31, which screwpasses through an insulating-gasket 30, located between the head of theextinguishing-tube 28 and the under face of the said head 13, and thescrew 31 passes through an opening in the said head member 13 of thebracket in such manneras not to engage therewith. The head of the screwhas bearing upon an extension-arm 32 from the head member 16 of theopposing bracket B, and this extension-arm 32 serves as a handle wherebyto move the device readily from place to place. This extensionor handlemember 32 is separated from the spring 24 and the head member 13 of thebracket B by a gasket 33, of insulating material, as is illustrated inFig. 3.

With reference to the bracket B it is secured to the upper face of thecover A of the base by a bolt 34, passed through its foot 35, engagingwith the under face of the cover A, as is shown in Fig. 4, the said boltbeing provided with a suitable nut 36 at its lower end, and abinding-post 37, also in the form of a bolt, is passed through the footmember 15 of the bracket B, through the cover A of the base, and throughthe plate at the under side of the cover and is provided with a locknut39. A set-screw 40 is passed through suitably-threaded apertures in theplate 35 and in the cover A, if necessary, to the outer face of the saidcover, for a purpose to be hereinafter mentioned. The said foot member15 of the bracket B is provided with an o enin 41 therein ada ted whenthe P o 7 P bracket is in position to register with the upper end of theadjusting-screw 40.

The fountain U, which is adapted to contain a liquid fuelgasolene, forexampleas is best shown in Fig. 1, consists of an inner barrel orcylinder 42, an outer pivoted barrel or cylinder 43, and horizontalupper and lower connecting-tubes 44 and 45. The two cylinders or barrels42 and 43 may be of the same diameter; but preferably the outer or swingbarrel 43 is smaller than the inner or pivoted barrel 42 and thematerial supplied to the fountain preferably through an openingin thetop of the pivoted barrel 42, normally closed by a cap 46, as is shownin Figs. 1 and 2.

A wick-tube 47 extends up from the upper end of the swing or outerbarrel or cylinder inclined to the inclination of the lower edge 29 ofthe extinguishingtube 28, with which latter tube the wick-tube isadapted to engage in practically an air-tight manner when the fountainis in normal position to extinguish the flame, which may be at the upperend of a wick 49, passed down through the tube 47 into thebarrel orcylinder 43, as shown in Fig. 3.

A spindle 50 is secured tothe upper head of the barrel or cylinder 42,and this spindle is made to enter an a erture 51 in the block 52,removably secure to the under face of the head member 16 of the innerbracket B by screws 53 or their equivalents,it being the object in theconstruction of the device to render each and every part readilyseparable, readily removable, and readily replaced. A second spindle 54is secured to the lower head of the said inner cylinder or barrel 42,and this latter spindle 54 enters the o ening 41 in the foot member 15of the brac :et B and is engaged by the set-screw 40, and by tighteningor loosening this screw the fountain may be made to turn more or lesseasily upon its axis.

A spring 56' is coiled aroundthe spindle 54, and one end of this springis secured to the bottom head of the said cylinder or barrel 42 by ascrew 57 or the like, as is shown in Fig.

4, and the other end of the spring has bearing against or is attached tothe head portion of the fastening-bolt 34 for the bracket B, asis alsoshown in Fig. 4. This spring 56 is placed under tension when thefountain is swung outward or forward toward the operator for the purposeof producing a spark to obtain a light for the cigar, but normally tendsto hold the fountain in its usual or rear positionthat is, to the rearof the sparking device and with the wick-tube 47 in engagement with andcovered by the extinguishing-tube 2 and said position is automaticallyassumed by placing a stop 55, of rubber or other yielding material, at asuitable point on the front face of the body 11 of the bracket B.

The casing A contains any desired number of dry cells A and aninduction-coil A The wiring may be accomplished in any de sired manner.The positive pole 57 of one of the cells is connected by a wire 58 withthe binding-post 34, connected with the bracket B, and the negative pole59 of the same cell is connected by a wire 60 with the positive pole 57of a second cell A The negative pole 61 of the said second cell A isconnected by a wire 62 with a pole 63 of the induction-coil A the otherpole 66 of the said induction-coil being connected by a wire 67 with thebinding-post 20, connected with the bracket B.

The fountain C is provided with a fingeroutward direction or against thetension of its spring 56.

In connection with the lighting device which has been described acutting mechanism is employed. To that end an arm 69 is carriedforwardly from the lower' portion of the inner or pivoted cylinder orbarrel 42, and this arm 69, as is shown best in Fig. 5, has a recess 70,more or less angular, made in its rear edge. A knife 71 is secured uponthe upper face of this arm over the recess 70, which knife has anopening 72 therein, the under edge of which opening is beveled, and thesaid opening 72 is adapted to receive the tip of a cigar. Thisknife-carrying arm 69 operates in conjunction-with a bracket D, which isfixed to the cover A of the casing A. This bracket D, which constitutespractically the body portion of the cutter, consists of an upperhorizontal member 74, a vertical member 75, and a lower horizontalmember 76, which latter member is attached to the said cover A, as isshown in Fig. 6. The upper horizontal member 74 of the body D of thecutter is provided with an opening 73, the upper portion of which isflaring, and this opening is adapted to receive and permit the downwardpassage of the tip portion of a cigar to the opening 72 in the cutter,so that when the fountain C is moved outward and the blade 71 of thecutter is carried past the upper opening 73 in the body of the cutterthe tip of the cigar will be cut off, and this action is accomplished atthe same time that the spark is produced to ignite the wick at the upperend of the wick-tube.

Normally the opening 72 in the blade 71 of the cutter registers with theopening 73 in the upper portion of the body of the cutter, as is shownin Fig. '6.

An opening 77 is made in the bottom member 76 of the body of the cutter,and this lower opening 77 is very much enlarged at the upper portion ofsaid member and is inclined in direction of the lower or contractedportion of the openings, as is shown at 7 7 a in Fig. 6. Thus the upperportion of the opening 77 is more or less dished, and this dished wallof the opening 77 is adapted to receive the particles separated from thecigar by the knife 71 as the said knife 71 passes by the body portion ofthe cutter, and said separated particles find their way through the.

lower contracted portion of the opening 77 into an opening 78 producedin the cover A, and from this opening 78 the said separated particles ortips of the cigars fall into the tray or receptacle 79, which is locatedbelow the opening 77 in the cover A within the casing A, as is shown inFig. 1, and this tray or receptacle 79 can be removed from the casing,when the cover therefor is opened and the contents of the receptaclereadily emptied.

In the operation of the device the cigar is placed in the upper openingof the body porswung outward, which action causes the tip of the cigarto be cut off, as has been stated,

and as the fountain is drawn outward the sparking arm or finger 25 isengaged by the higher point of the wick-tube 47, and said sparking-armis forced outward, bringing the upper front corner in contact with thespring 24, thus completing the circuit and forcing up the said spring. Aspark is the result and also an ignition of the exposed end of the wick.As soon as the wick-tube passes the sparking finger or arm 25 the spring24 immediately restores the said finger or arm 25 to its normal positionout of contact with the said spring, and consequently the circuit isbroken.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent 1. In a cigar cutter and lighter the combination withthe base, a fountain comprising a spring-controlled drum, a paralleldrum and tubular connections between the drums, a bracket secured to thebase in which the spring-controlled drum of the fountain is mounted toturn, a wick-tube for the outer drum of said fountain, a bracket securedto the base, a stop on the bracket for limiting the movement of thefountain in one direction, a sparking device in connection with thebracket, and a source of electric supply incircuit connection with thesparking device and fountain.

2. In a cigar cutter and lighter, the combination with a base, afountain comprising a spring controlled drum, a parallel drum andtubular connections between the drums, a bracket secured to the base inwhich the spring-controlled drum of the fountain is mounted to turn, awick-tube for the outer drum of the said fountain, a bracket secured tothe base, a stop secured to the said bracket, limiting the movement ofthe fountain in one direction, an extinguishing-tube secured to the saidbracket and arranged for close and normal engagement with the wick-tube,a spring controlled sparking-finger pivoted to said bracket and locatedin the path of the fountain, the said sparking-finger being normally outof engagement with its controllingspring, and a source of electricsupply in circuit connection with the sparking-finger and the fountain.

3. In a cigar cutter and lighter, the combination with a base, afountain comprising a spring-controlled drum, a parallel drum andtubular connections between the drums, a bracket secured to the base, inwhich the spring-controlled drum of the fountain is mounted to turn, awick-tube for the outer drum of said fountain, a bracket secured to thebase, a stop secured to said bracket, limiting the movement of thefountain in one direction, an extinguishing-tube secured to the tion ofthe cutter, and then the fountain C is said bracket and arranged forclose and normal engagement with the wick-tube, a springcontrolledsparking-finger pivoted to said bracket and located in the path of thefountain, said sparking-finger being normally out of engagement with itscontrolling-spring, a source of electric supply in circuit connectionwith the sparking-finger and the fountain, and a cigar-cutter,comprising a body por- 10 tion having an upper receivin and a lowerdischarging opening, and a knife carried by

